With Chiaki and the cub Kimba with him Curtis found it easier to walk through the city streets than he ever thought he would be able too. With no male sniffing deeply towards them, his snake nature was all but hidden. At a glance the females simply guessed he was the lion mate who had fathered the cub.

Kimba fluttered his tiny wings, they were only covered in a soft down and gave no lift. ~Father! Is this the city?~ He asked towards Curtis.

Curtis looked at the cub as it tried to communicate with him, but the words were in the lion language. He only knew the cub was wanting his attention as it made sounds directed towards him.

"Kimba is very excited, isn't he?" Chiaki said as the cub wiggled in her grasp.

"Yes." Curtis nodded. He placed a hand on Kimbas head, patting the cub gently. Then he wrapped his arm around Chiakis shoulders. "My mate has a strong cub. I am looking forward to when you have my young." He whispered in her ear, causing her to blush.

"You know I just ended my cycle."

Curtis sighed. Chiaki was right. She had bled, then gone into heat. She refused the advances from both of her mates during that time and now she was no longer in heat. He would have to wait until her heat returned. Her heat though returned almost as quickly as it left, only a few weeks between each! How could a female be so fertile?

This was another reason for having more males in their family group. Chiaki could have two pregnancy's in a year instead of just one. Not only would he have more chances to have young with her because of that, but they would need more males to support such a wealth of offspring.

"There looks to be a building ahead that deals with the exchange of spar." Curtis said as he pointed to a building with a hand painted wooden sign. The picture on the sign was a four-sided diamond shape, painted white. Below the shape were a set of marks that Chiaki could only guess were this worlds written language.

"What does it say?" She asked.

Curtis stopped walking and looked to the side. "I- I don't know."

"But isn't that a word under the picture of a diamond?"

"The picture is a clear spar, but I can not read the symbols below it. Very few beast men know how to read, unless raised in a high-ranking family... and even then only the favoured will be taught."

Chiaki looked at the symbols on the sign. "S-pu-ah-r." She pointed at the marks, counting out the four marks. Then she looked at the longer word, she wasn't sure what it could be. It might say 'exchange' it might say 'building'... or anything else. The first word might not even be 'spar'.

"You can read?!" Curtis said in astonishment.

"No!" Chiaki quickly shook her head as some of those nearby looked at them after Curtis's outburst. "I was only trying to guess the words!"

Curtis calmed, glaring at anyone who was still watching them. His angry aura quickly caused several beast men to flee. Satisfied that they were no longer being stared at Curtis let his aura fade into the background once again. "Alright." He said with a nod. "Let's check this building."

The door was open and there was a short nice looking male with dark brown hair behind a counter. He didn't look very friendly though, a sour look on his handsome face. Chiaki couldn't see any beast marks on him. "Good day." She said, causing the male to jump in surprise. He had obviously not been paying attention to the door.

"AH! I-I mean, good day!" His eyes quickly took in the two standing before him. "Welcome!"

Chiaki bit her lip. He had gone from a sour face to a fake salesman smile. "Uh, would this be the place to pay for buying a house in this city?"

Eyes gleaming the male pointed to several wooden signs on the wall. "Yes, this is the place to pay for a home. The picture on the wall shows a rough map of the city. If you point to the ring you want to buy a home in-"

"We took the house here." Curtis said and pointed to the exact point on the outer ring that their desired home was located.

Taken aback by the swift and direct manner Curtis spoke with the male gulped. "I-I see." He examined the map, Curtis still touching the place the home was located. "That's one of the larger homes in the outer ring." He returned to behind the counter and disappeared in a flood of papers. "Ah here it is. That one has been empty for six seasons." He placed a paper on the counter, ignoring all the loose papers now piled around his feet.

"Good." Curtis said shortly. "I will buy it."

"That house would cost several high value spar-"

"I will pay with this." Curtis pulled out one of the two clear crystals he still had.

"A CRYSTAL?!" The male gaped at the item. "You could buy a house the same size as that one in the second ring, or a smaller house in the third ring for a clear crystal-"

"My mate chose the house she wants." Curtis stated firmly.

"Of course! Of course!" The male shrank back away from the intimidating Curtis. "I'll register that home as owned. I will only need you to make your mark here on this line." He pointed to a line with an 'X' beside of it at the bottom of the paper.

Curtis flicked his thumb over a fang, a drop of blood welled up. He pressed his thumb down on the paper. There was a small burst of energy and Curtis pulled his hand away. The tiny cut on his thumb was gone. Chiaki looked on in amazement at the glowing thumbprint on the paper, she could feel a tiny spark of Curtis's aura in it.

"That's everything!" The male squeaked. "The property is yours until your mark fades from this paper."

"How long is that?" Chiaki asked.

The male smiled at Chiaki, glad he could respond to the pretty female instead of her terrifying mate. "This mark is tied to you, through the beast power of your mate. A female has no beast power of her own. As long as you are alive, this mark will remain... even if you were to... loose... the mate who forged the contract." He carefully rolled up the paper. "I will return the price difference between the property and the clear crystal to you in spar."

The male took out a large box and opened it, inside Chiaki could seen several dozen small gems. They were eight sided and in several different colours. The male placed the clear crystal onto the pile of gems and began to pick through them. After a few moment he held out a handful of them. "Here is the difference." He said.

Curtis held out his hand and the male was forced to give them to him instead of Chiaki. Curtis studied the number and colours of the spar in his hand and then nodded. "This is a fair amount." He looked at the male, who shook in fear. "Be glad you did not try to overcharge me."

The male shook his head frantically. "Never! I'm a weak no-mark male, if I tried to be dishonest with my dealings I would end up dead in a day!"

Curtis snorted. It was good to see at least a few males understood their lack of power. He turned to Chiaki. "Now we have a home." He smiled at her. "Let me take you to a market."